Just a few pictures from Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John's visit

Never fear, Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John are here!

Steve's parents (Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John) arrived in town Friday evening. They arrived after the cubs were in bed Friday and Steve and I had debated whether to keep the cubs up to see them or wait until Saturday morning. After weighing the pros and cons we decided to wait until Saturday morning. If we kept the cubs up late on Friday, Saturday was sure to be a nightmare. They are used to their schedule and typically start the meltdown process around 6:30 at night. I'm sure we would have paid for it all weekend if we kept them up late on Friday.

On Saturday we took a ride up to the new house site to show them around the area. Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John offered to cubsit Saturday night and we quickly accepted before they could change their minds. They didn't know what they were in for. Steve and I took off to the hockey game (the Stars lost AGAIN...**sigh**) and we had a great time. When we got home we noticed that Grandma Shirley had washed a load of baby clothes. UH OH....BAD SIGN!! Sure enough, Zach had needed a little "special attention"...meaning he had thrown up in his crib. Poor Grandma Shirley! Thanks to this little mess, she may not offer her cubsitting services so quickly next time.

We also put Grandpa John to work while he was here. Our apartment became available for move-in on Saturday, and we enlisted his help in moving our sleeper sofa on Sunday. What would we have done without him?? Again, huge thanks to Grandpa for his help! I felt terrible making him work on his vacation.

Grandma Shirley and I enjoyed a chick flick (27 Dresses) on Sunday while the boys were moving the couch. Much to Steve and Grandpa's dismay, the movie was still on when they returned, and they weren't very impressed. It was Football Sunday afterall. Steve made a comment that he couldn't wait to move to the new house, because then we'll have the family room and the game room. The game room sure would have come in handy on Football Sunday and Grandma and I could have enjoyed our movie without all the unnecessary grumbles from the men in the house!

On Monday, Steve and I had our final design appointment. We can't thank Grandma and Grandpa enough for volunteering (again) to cubsit for the day. Especially with Zach having his most recent issues. There was no way we could have completed this task with the cubs in tow. I was not leaving there until the papers were signed and everything was selected. Basically we spent the entire day there. We arrived early so we had a little time to go over the options we had chosen at our last visit. I noticed our granite selection wasn't on the shelf but I figured someone else had selected it as well so it must have been on someone's desk. It was not unusual for the designers to have someone's selections in their office as the design was in progress. But, of course, for me this was not the case. Our granite selection has been discontinued. You have got to be kidding me! The one we selected was the only one I liked to match up with our flooring and cabinetry selections. I was a nervous wreck while they called the supplier to see if we could get our order in. We were told that there shouldn't be any problem. WHEW! There had better not be any problem, or we'll have to start over from scratch on our kitchen selections. UGH!!

The cub report from Grandma was all good! It was a relief to hear that Zach didn't have any problems keeping his food down and they spent most of the day playing, both inside and out. Naps reportedly went well which was also a pleasant surprise. It sounded like they had a good time and I'm glad that Grandma and Grandpa were able to have some one-on-one time with just the cubs.

On Tuesday we took the Grandparents around the Arlington area to see the Rangers Stadium and the progress on the new Cowboys Stadium. We did another drive through the new housing area where we were pleasantly surprised to see that the slab has been poured. We also took the cubs to the mall to play in the toddler play area before heading to the airport. They had a late afternoon flight and we were sad to see them go. We really enjoyed their visit and can't wait for them to come again.

Such a slacker!

I pulled up my blog this evening and was amazed that I have not updated it since November 16. What a slacker! How am I supposed to remember all the way back to last week when I'm lucky to remember what I ate for lunch today? I will reference my trusty little calendar and try to update the world on what has been going on with the residents of Cub Central.

Last Tuesday was my LCMOM meeting. I always enjoy getting out and mingling with friends. Kelli and I even went to Manny G's afterwards for some adult conversation over a glass of wine.

Wednesday was my monthly dinner with Jackey and Cathy. This month we chose to go to a Mediterranean restaurant, so we ended up at Hedary's, which serves mainly Lebanese food. I'm really glad we went because I like trying new things, but I'm not sure I would go again, at least not anytime soon. It was definitely different.

Steve and I took Zach back to the GI Doctor on Thursday. He is still having issues with keeping foods down. It is so frustrating because he is finally taking the initiative to put things in his mouth all by himself and then ends up throwing them back up. Over the last few days he has tried some shaved ham and sliced cheese. It is wonderful to watch him put solid foods in his little mouth....FINALLY! Now if we can just figure out a way for him to keep everything down.

We have more teeth

Emily is sprouting her ninth tooth. I guess that explains her most recent bout of crankiness! Tooth brushing is going quite well. The cubs get their teeth brushed twice daily and I don't even have to tie them down anymore to do it. Yay!

It must be a world record...

This past work week I cooked dinner every night. That has got to be some kind of record. I even made three new things...baked ziti, sloppy joes, and thai noodles. We also had roast beef (one of my favorites...and this time I used the crock pot) and homemade pizza. To top that off I even made breakfast this morning...french toast. Steve always makes Sunday morning breakfast but this morning I gave him the day off. Aren't I sweet?? No emergent runs to the hospital for food poisoning so I guess I did ok. Unfortunately Emily is going through a picky food eating stage (hard to believe I know) and she didn't really seem to like any of it. She turned her nose up at the ziti, and the carrots and potatoes from the roast. The thai noodles were way too spicy and I wasn't crazy about the pizza so I didn't subject her to it. The only thing she seemed to like was the sloppy joes. Zach clamped his mouth shut for everything. What a surprise! ***sigh*** Oh well, maybe the Cub Chef will have better luck next week.

P.S. On an unrelated topic, we saw gas for $1.83 today and milk for $2.50/gallon.

A Saturday spent with Dad

We had a very busy Saturday. Today we took the circus out of the house. Dad had a rare Saturday off and we planned a big shopping trip. We really weren't planning on buying anything, we were just all anxious to get out of the house and since it was way too cold to play outside we settled on the mall. So that is what we did today. We spent the entire day out of the house with Dad.

We started out before lunch and headed north. We stopped for lunch at Mom's favorite fast food place...Taco Bueno. We decided to try eating in. I was a little worried about how the cubs would behave but they did amazingly well. No fussing at all. I was so impressed. We didn't spend too much time there because I really was worried about pressing our luck. The cubs even had some refried beans. These ARE my cubs afterall.

We then went to check on the homesite. We now have pipes. Woo hoo. This is moving along a little faster than I expected. Right now I am perfectly happy for them to take their time because we still have a house to sell. As soon as this one sells I'll be urging them to hurry things along.

After we checked on the site, we traveled up to Grapevine Mills for a little window shopping. Zach took a nap while Emily did some mall walking. Then we loaded the cubs back in the car so Emily could take her nap. Why they can't take a nap at the same time is beyond me. We then went to Northeast Mall for a little more window shopping. They did play for a while at the indoor playground before we packed up and headed home.

I think the cubs really enjoyed hanging out with Dad and getting out of the house! I had fun hanging out with Dad and getting out of the house too!

Where are they now? Snack craving alert!

I have recently been having cravings for two things I can no longer find:

1. Black Pepper Jack Doritos. I haven't had these since our last trip to New York in 2006. I always look for them in every grocery store I go into but can never seem to find them anywhere. I know they are still made because I saw them in a grocery store advertisement. Seems like a cruel form of torture since they don't even stock them.

2. Mr. Salty stick pretzels. Remember these??? They used to come in a blue box. I loved the fact that they were so thin and crispy. I actually found a close second...Salty Stix made by Shultz Pretzels. I used to buy these in a 3 lb. bag from Garden Ridge. They no longer carry them at the two stores near our house. BOO....HISS!!!

If anyone in the D/FW area has located either the Black Pepper Jack Doritos or the Salty Stix please let me know! I am having a snack craving!!

So the economy sucks.....

....but I'm not complaining about the lower gas prices. On Sunday we saw the price of gas had dropped to $1.95 here. I can't remember the last time I saw that. We should have taken a picture before the prices start to go back up.

The blog is in demand....

Yikes! My reading public is starting to get a little restless, so I am FINALLY posting an update so my loyal readers will get their weekly dose of Cub Central happenings. Sorry it's been a while, things are always crazy here.

Last Wednesday, the cubs and I went to Kelli's for a play date. Thankfully the cubs behaved reasonably well and even took a short nap in their stroller so Kelli and I could enjoy a nice lunch. They had a lot of fun playing with Kelli's girls and hanging out in the back yard. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Our little Zach is quite the flirt. He even gave little Miss Isabelle a kiss. AAAWWWW....the sweetest thing ever, and not a camera in sight.

On Friday evening the dreaded runny nose made yet another appearance at Cub Central. UGH!! By Saturday morning it had already moved into Zach's chest and the coughing ensued. Poor baby. I was hoping it was just allergies, but Emily disproved that by coming down with it on Sunday. Since allergies aren't contagious, we're pretty sure Cub Central is being attacked by the rhino-virus. Just great. We are a hot bed of germs here. So no cute cub pics for this post, unless you want to see the dreaded dripping noses that mommy spends hours chasing around. Bless their little hearts, they don't sleep well because they can't breathe, they don't eat well, and the coughing and hacking is just dreadful, but hopefully this mess will clear up soon. We have a busy month ahead and need to be in top form.

Housing update

We drove by the site on Friday and found that something has actually changed. We have forms for the concrete pour. YIPPEE. We are moving forward. We're keeping an eye on the weather and praying that it cooperates. It's been beautiful up until yesterday when we had tons of rain and now we're expecting low temps near freezing next weekend. Just our luck.

On Saturday we met with the realtor that will be listing our house. Our apartment won't be available until November 22, so we are looking forward to putting the house on the market around the beginning of December. Things are going to get really crazy here at Cub Central.

Why time outs don't work in our house....

...at least for Zach.

I have only put Zach in time out twice. The first time Emily went over and sat with him.

Today I put Zach in time out and this time Emily took him some legos (one at a time) for him to play with.

You must be kidding me!!! While I totally adore her watching out for her little brother, it makes his time outs a little rewarding for him. What kind of time out is it when you get a friend to hang out with AND she brings toys to boot?? What kind of punishment is that?? Thanks Emily.

When do I get to be in time out???

Cub report

It's been a week since my last cub report and I am struggling to remember what happened over the past seven days. My memory just isn't what it used to be....I've been told that I have "Mom"nesia, a brain sucking occurrence that strikes most moms of multiples.

The most important event of the week was a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Bear. They arrived on Saturday to cubsit for us and we can't thank them enough for it (see next post). Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

The time changed this weekend, which I guess I find noteworthy because it is affecting me so much. I always loved the fall time change because it meant that I could get an extra hour of sleep. Unfortunately someone forgot to inform the cubs of that little detail and I am paying for it. I want my extra hour! Yesterday everyone was grouchy, especially the cubs. Today was much better.

Zach's eating has been going pretty well. I'm sure that since I mentioned it, I have jinxed it entirely. Today he had real macaroni and cheese and some baked potato. He kept it all down and I am doing the happy dance. Don't you wish you could see it? I am SO excited that we are finally starting to make some progress.

Emily has been doing great. She eats everything under the sun and is becoming Mommy's little helper. She brings me things when I leave them within her reach (most notable is the TV remote). Today I told her to take something to Zach and she did it. Next week I'll have her unloading the dishwasher and folding clothes! Just kidding, but I am impressed with her ability to understand me even though she doesn't verbally respond to me in a language I can understand. She blabbers all day long and I have yet to understand any of it.

At their 18 month check up the Dr. noted that he thinks their little molars may be starting to work their way out. I am dreading that. I hear they are the most painful. Emily can't shove her little hands in her mouth far enough, and I have to mop up after her all day long. I have never seen so much drool. I have stocked up on teething rings and baby Tylenol because I know it is just around the corner.

On a sad note, my grandmother fell last week and was hospitalized, but we are now happy to report that she has been released and is at home. We are hoping that she is resting comfortably and that she is back up on her feet in no time. We miss her and we don't get to see her as often as we would like, but we are always thinking of her!

Designs and dilemmas

We had our first design appointment on Saturday. Four hours and we're only 40% complete on our selections. What a long four hours it was. It wasn't that Steve and I couldn't agree on things. It was more like we didn't really like any of the choices. Nothing really jumped out to us that said "this is the one". Now we're second guessing everything we selected. Good thing is that nothing is set in stone yet, so we can go back and make changes. We are undecided on the flooring (wood floors vs. travertine), undecided on interior paint, and don't even mention the master bath (cabinets, granite and ceramic tile selections are all up in the air). We are definitely going to have to spend some time looking at the other houses to see what goes well together. I didn't even mention that practically everything is an upgrade. Ching ching. I can see the dollars evaporating. I am freaking out. For example, a silverware drawer for the kitchen cabinetry is $160. Steve said for that price the darn drawer better open up and hand him a fork. Thanks but no thanks.

We cannot thank Grandma and Grandpa Bear enough for driving all the way here to cubsit for us. We could not have possibly taken the cubs with us, so we are very grateful that they were able to come this weekend.